Supervisor Training Seminars Bring Huge Benefits At A Low Budget

Most organizations give too little importance on developing their supervisors’ non-technical skills. While technical training is essential, businesses should not overlook improving their supervisors’ soft skills through leadership and management seminars. After all, most of the work would be done by workers under the control of supervisors.

For a comparatively minimal investment, businesses can have huge productivity gains by sharpening their supervisors’ skills. Be aware of the vast improvements possible if a supervisor is knowledgeable in the following:

Knowing the role of the supervisor. Many supervisors do not know all the roles they are expected to play. A large number still act as if they are just higher-paid workers and not as part of management. There must also be a proper fitting of management style to the type of workforce—a group of ditch diggers must be handled differently from highly skilled professionals to maximize their output.

Planning. If there is a lack of planning skills, the workforce will be less productive, as they will often be acting without direction. Developing objectives is the starting point of the planning process for supervisors. Oftentimes, the supervisor unskilled in planning will throw simple decisions that should be solved on their level upwards to their manager. Not only will this take away valuable time from their manager, it will also delay the process of resolution. Lack of planning also brings many other complications, such as not anticipating future problems like proper maintenance.

Organizing. Defining and assigning tasks, deciding the proper sequence, determining the workload, and coordinating with subordinates, are in the scope of organizing. Disorganized supervisors cause a lot of inefficiency; there may be confusion as to who will be responsible for a task. It may also happen that a person becomes overloaded and incapable of doing his assignment. In worst cases, it may cause the failure of the plan.

Leadership. Being able to motivate people to increase output is one of the key leadership skills. It also includes developing the skills of people and mentoring. People with low leadership skills find it hard to gain the cooperation of their workforce. Poor leadership causes dissatisfaction, and both productivity and discipline suffer.

Controlling. To ensure plans are on track, there must be control measures. There should be appropriate standards established to serve as the yardstick to which you can compare the results if they are satisfactory. From such comparisons, you will be able to make needed improvements.

The role of the supervisor in the proper management of the company cannot be underestimated. Their position as the one in direct contact with the workers gives them the best information and control among those in management. With firsthand knowledge of what is happening in the frontlines of company operations, they must be well trained to be able to perform their tasks.

BusinessCoach, Inc. conducts a seminar entitled, “Supervisory Skills Training.” Contact (02) 727-5628, (02) 727-8860, (0915) 205-0133 or visit www.businesscoachphil.com for details.

Click here to view details of the seminar: Supervisory Skills Training »

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. C-6, Sunday, June 9, 2013. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.